Cooley's Cyclopaedia of Practical Receipts Volume Ii Part 302

_Measures of Length._

-------------------------------+-------------------------------------- Metric Denominations and Values Equivalents in Imperial Denominations -------------------------------+------+------+-----+------------------ Metres. Miles. Yards. Feet. Inches. Decimals.

--------------------+----------+------+------+-----+------------------ Myriametre 10,000 { 6 376 0 119 { or 10,936 0 119 Kilometre 1000 ... 1093 1 1079 Hectometre 100 ... 109 1 1079 Decametre 10 ... 10 2 97079 Metre 1 ... 1 0 33708 Decimetre 1/10 ... ... ... 39371 Centimetre 1/100 ... ... ... 03937 Millimetre 1/1000 ... ... ... 00394 --------------------+----------+------+------+-----+------------------

_Measures of Surface._

----------------------------------+------------------------ Metric Denominations and Values. Equivalents in Imperial Denominations.

--------------------------+-------+------+----------------- Square Acres. Square Decimals.

Metres. Yards.

--------------------------+-------+------+----------------- Hectare, _i.e._ 100 Ares 10,000 { 2 22803326 { or 119603326 Decare, _i.e._ 10 Ares 1000 ... 11960333 Are 100 ... 1196033 Centiare, _i.e._ 1/100 Are 1 ... 11960 --------------------------+-------+------+-----------------

_Measures of Capacity._

+---------------------------------------+-----------------------------+ Metric Denominations and Values. Equivalents in Imperial Denominations. +------------------------------+--------+---+---+---+---+---+---------+ Cubic Q D Metres. u B e a u G Q c r s P a u P i t h e l a i m e e c l r n a r l k o t t l s s s n s s s . . . . . . . +------------------------------+--------+---+---+---+---+---+---------+ Kilolitre _i.e._ 1000 Litres 1 3 3 2 0 0 077 Hectolitre, _i.e._ 100 Litres 1/10 ... 2 3 0 0 0077 Decalitre, _i.e._ 10 Litres 1/100 ... ... 1 0 0 16077 Litre 1/1000 ... ... ... ... ... 176077 Decilitre, _i.e._ 1/10 Litre 1/10000 ... ... ... ... ... 0176077 Centilitre, _i.e._ 1/100 Litre 1/100000 ... ... ... ... ... 00176077 +------------------------------+--------+---+---+---+---+---+---------+

+--------------------------------+-----------------------------------------+ Metric Denominations and Values. Equivalents in Imperial Denominations. +-------------------+------------+-----+-------+-------+-------+-----------+ D D Grams. Cwts. Stones. Pounds. Ounces. r e a c m . s . +-------------------+------------+-----+-------+-------+-------+-----------+ Millier 1,000,000 19 5 6 9 1504 Quintal 100,000 1 7 10 7 6304 Myriagram 10,000 ... 1 8 0 118304 Kilogram 1,000 {... ... 2 3 43830 { (or 154323487 grs.) Hectogram 100 ... ... ... 3 84383 Decagram 10 ... ... ... ... 56438 Gram 1 ... ... ... ... 056438 Decigram 1/10 ... ... ... ... 0056438 Centigram 1/100 ... ... ... ... 00056438 Milligram 1/1000 ... ... ... ... 000056438 +---------+---------+------------+-----+-------+-------+-------+-----------+

_Measures of Length._

+-------------------+-----------------------------------------------+ Equivalents in Metric Measures. Imperial Measures. -----------+----------+------------+-----------+ Millimetre. Decimetre. Metre. Kilometre. +-------------------+-----------+----------+------------+-----------+ Inch = 2539954 Foot or 12 inches ... = 304794 = 030479 Yard, or 3 feet, or 36 inches ... ... = 091428 Fathom, or 2 yards, or 6 feet ... ... = 182877 Pole or 5-1/2 yards ... ... = 502911 Chain, or 4 poles, or 22 yards ... ... = 2011644 Furlong, 40 poles, or 220 yards ... ... = 20116437 = 020116 Mile, 8 furlongs, or 1760 yards ... ... = 160931493 = 160931 +-------------------+-----------+----------+------------+-----------+

_Measures of Surface._

+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+ Equivalents in Metric Measures. Imperial Measures. +------------------+---------------+----------+----------+ Square Decimetres. Square Metres. Ares. Hectares. +--------------------------------+------------------+---------------+----------+----------+ Square inch = 006451 Square foot, or 144 square inches = 928997 = 0092900 Square yard, or 9 square feet, or 1296 square inches = 8360971 = 0836097 Pole or perch, or 30-1/4 square yards ... = 25291939 Rood, or 40 perches, or 1210 square yards ... ... =10116776 Acre, or 4 roods, or 4840 square yards ... ... ... = 040467 Square mile or 640 acres ... ... ... =25898945 +--------------------------------+------------------+---------------+----------+----------+

_Measures of Capacity._

+---------------------+-----------------------------------------------+ Equivalents in Metric Measures. Imperial Measures. +-----------+----------+-----------+------------+ Decilitres. Litres. Decalitres. Hectolitres. +---------------------+-----------+----------+-----------+------------+ Gill = 141983 = 014198 Pint or 4 gills = 567932 = 056793 Quart or 2 pints ... = 113587 Gallon or 4 quarts ... = 454346 Peck or 2 gallons ... = 908692 = 090869 Bushel, or 8 gallons, or 4 pecks ... ... = 363477 Quarter or 8 bushels ... ... ... = 290781 +---------------------+-----------+----------+-----------+------------+

_Cubic Measure._

+-------------------------------+-----------------------------------+ Equivalents in Metric Measures. Imperial Measures. +------------+-----------+----------+ Cubic Cubic Cubic Centimetres. Decimetres. Metres. +-------------------------------+------------+-----------+----------+ Cubic inch 1638618 Cubic foot or 1728 cubic inches ... 2831531 Cubic yard or 27 cubic feet ... ... 076451 +-------------------------------+------------+-----------+----------+

_Weights._

+---------------------------+-----------------------------------------------+ Equivalents in Metric Weights. Imperial Weights. +-----------+----------+------------+-----------+ Grams. Decagrams. Kilograms. Millier or Metric Ton. +---------------------------+-----------+----------+------------+-----------+ Grain =006479895 Dram =177185 Ounce, avoirdupois, or 16 drams, or 4375 grains =2834954 = 283495 Pound, or 16 ounces, or 256 drams, or 7000 grains =45359265 = 4535927 = 045359 Hundredweight or 112 lbs. ... ... = 5080238 Ton or 20 cwt. ... ... = 101604754 = 101605 Ounce, troy, or 480 grains =31103496 = 311035 +---------------------------+-----------+----------+------------+-----------+

=WELD.= _Syn._ WOALD. The _Reseda luteola_ (Linn.), an herbaceous annual employed by the dyers. A decoction of the stems and leaves gives a rich yellow to goods mordanted with alum, tartar, or muriate of tin. See YELLOW PIGMENTS.

=WELSH RARE'BIT.= _Prep._ Cut slices of bread, toast and b.u.t.ter them; then cover them with slices of rich cheese, spread a little mustard over the cheese, put the bread in a cheese-toaster before the fire, and in a short time serve it up very hot.

=WEN.= The popular name of pulpy, encysted, and fleshy tumours of the face and neck.

=WET (to keep out from Gun Locks).= In giving hints to sportsman going to Norway, Mr. Lock, in his book on 'Sport in Norway,' gives some capital advice on this subject, which would be equally serviceable in wet weather in England. Sportsmen will do well, he says, to remove the locks from their rifle and gun, oil them with a little Rangoon oil, lay them on the hob of the fireplace until they are quite hot, and then wipe them as dry as possible with a little cotton waste, so that there will be no superfluous oil left to clog the works. While the locks are getting hot get a little beeswax and melt it in a cup, and with the tip of a penknife carefully pay, as though you were using putty to place in a pane of gla.s.s, though more sparingly, the wooden ledges where the lock-plates rest when in their places, in such a manner that none of the wax gets into the places hollowed out to receive the works of the lock. When the warm locks are put back in their places, and screwed up tight, the wax will adhere to the edge of the lock-plates and the wood wherein they bed, and effectually render them impervious to wet. The sportsman can afterwards, when stalking, push his rifle through wet gra.s.s, and use his fowling-piece when the water, after a shower, drops from the trees upon him as he forces his way between the wet branches, without fear of the wet making its way into the locks.

=WHEAT.= _Syn._ TRITIc.u.m, L. The ripe seed or fruit of several varieties of _Tritic.u.m vulgare_ (Linn.), of which the princ.i.p.al are _Tritic.u.m stivum_, or spring wheat, _Tritic.u.m hybernum_, or winter wheat, and _Tritic.u.m turgidum_, or turgid wheat, the last two of which include several red and white sub-varieties. Of all the cereal grains wheat appears to be that best adapted for bread corn, not merely on account of its highly nutritious character, but also on account of the power it possesses from its richness in gluten, of forming a light and agreeable loaf by the process of fermentation.

According to Sir H. Davy, good English wheat contains of gluten, 19%; starch, 77%; soluble matter, 4 to 5%.

The average weight of good wheat per bushel is from 58 to 60 lbs.; and its average yield of flour is fully 12-1/2 lbs. for every 14 lbs. The weight of the straw is said to be about double that of the grain. The produce per acre varies from 12 to 60, or even 64, bushels an acre. See FLOUR, STARCH, &c.

=Buckwheat.= _Syn._ f.a.gOPYRUM. The seed of _f.a.gopyrum esculentum_, a plant of the natural order _Polygonaceae_. It makes excellent cakes, crumpets, and gruel. In North America, buckwheat cakes, or rather fritters, are in general use at breakfast, eaten with mola.s.ses. In England, buckwheat is cultivated as food for pheasants.

=Wheat, Indian.= See MAIZE.

=Wheat, Steeps for.= Quicklime, sulphate of zinc, or white vitriol, sulphate of copper or blue vitriol, and a.r.s.enious acid or white a.r.s.enic, are the substances chiefly employed for this purpose. About 5 lbs. of the first (slaked and made into a milk with water), 1-1/4 lb. of the second, 1 lb. of the third, and 3 or 4 oz. of the last, are regarded as sufficient for each sack of seed. The method of applying them is either to dissolve or mix them with just sufficient water to cover the seed, which is then to be soaked in the mixture for a few hours, or a less quant.i.ty of water is employed, and the more concentrated solution is, at intervals, well sprinkled, by means of a 'watering pot,' over the seed wheat spread upon the barn floor, the action being promoted by occasional stirring.

_Obs._ The first two substances above named have been separately proved to be amply sufficient to destroy the 's.m.u.t' in seed wheat, and are perfectly harmless in their effects, which renders them greatly preferable to a.r.s.enic, or even to sulphate of copper. Nearly all the numerous advertised 'anti-s.m.u.ts,' or nostrums to prevent the s.m.u.t in wheat, contain one or other of the last three of the above substances.

=WHEY.= _Syn._ SERUM LACTIS, L.; PEt.i.t LAIT, Fr. The liquid portion of milk after the curd has been separated. It consists chiefly of water, holding in solution 3 or 4% of sugar of milk. A pound of milk mixed with a tablespoonful of proof spirit allowed to become sour, and the whey filtered from the sediment, yields, in the course of a few weeks, a good vinegar (whey vinegar), free from lactic acid (Scheele). Skimmed milk may be used.

=Whey, Al'um.= _Syn._ SERUM LACTIS ALUMINATUM, L. _Prep._ Take of powdered alum 1 dr.; hot milk, 1 pint; simmer a few seconds, let it repose for a short time, and strain the whey from the coagulum. Used in diarrha, &c.; a wine-gla.s.sful after every motion. Acid whey (SERUM LACTIS ACIDUM) may be prepared in a similar manner by subst.i.tuting 1/2 dr. of tartaric or citric acid for the alum. Orange whey and lemon whey are prepared from the juice of the respective fruits, with a little of the yellow peel to impart flavour.

=WHEY POWDER.= _Prep._ 1. From whey gently evaporated to dryness, and powdered along with about 1-3rd of its weight of lump sugar.

2. Sugar, 7 oz.; sugar of milk, 2 oz.; gum Arabic, 1 oz. (all in fine powder); mix well. 1 oz. dissolved in 1-1/4 pint of water forms extemporaneous whey.

=WHIS'KY.= Dilute alcohol obtained from the fermented wort of malt or grain. That from the former is the most esteemed. The inferior qualities of this spirit are prepared from barley, oats, or rye, a small portion only of which is malted, or from potatoes mashed with a portion of barley malt, the resulting wash being carelessly fermented and distilled, and purposely suffered to burn, to impart the peculiar empyreumatic or smoky flavour so much relished by the lower orders of whisky drinkers. The malt whisky, sold as such, of the princ.i.p.al Scotch and Irish distillers is fully equal in quality to London gin, from which it merely differs in flavour. The peculiar flavour of whisky may be imitated by adding a few drops each of pure creosote and purified fusel oil to 2 or 3 gallons of good London gin; and the imitation will be still more perfect if the liquor be kept for some months before drinking it.

We are indebted to 'Land and Water' for the following interesting particulars relating to Irish whiskey:

"Genuine unadulterated Irish whisky has, of late years, become a great desideratum as a wholesome and agreeable beverage, and in the article produced by the large and successful company whose premises and business I am about to describe, the consuming public have every guarantee of its excellence and purity, as far as can be insured by the use of the very best materials, great skill and care in the manufacturing processes, and the valuable and extensive buildings in which the spirit is stored until it attains the maturity and mellowness which age alone can confer.

"No blending process of new whiskies can effect this, no distiller who has not very extensive bonded warehouses is to be trusted. Acre after acre of cellars, vault after vault, corridor after corridor, each and all dim, damp, and dark, and guarded by the exciseman's talismanic padlock--all these are necessary for the soundness of the distillery. For to secure age and quality, the effect of several years storage in these vaults is required. If you wish to see such store-rooms to perfection, go to Cork, which may be considered the capital of the Irish whisky trade. Even Dublin, with its Jamiesons, its Powers, and its Roes, must bow down before it.

"But what is most singular of all, one company represents that important branch of manufacture, and have therefore a good right to their t.i.tle of 'Cork Distilleries Company.' A little over a quarter of a century ago there were five distilleries in Cork--Wise's, Hewett's, Daly's, Murphy's, and Waters'. In 1867, however, an amalgamation took place, and the present company was started, and the work of the five distilleries was concentrated into three--the North Mall, still known as Wise's (that proprietor wisely allowing himself to be bought out, after having made one of the largest private fortunes in Ireland); the Midleton, situated at a pretty village of that name, about ten miles from Cork, and the Watercourse, in the north-western suburb of the city. The three distilleries are capable of producing 1,000,000 gallons each per annum, which represents an annual duty of one million and a half pounds sterling.

Their paid-up capital is a quarter of a million, and a very large rest fund. Their works and property are insured for over three-quarters of a million sterling, and they find employment for about 1000 men.

"_The Brewing Process._--I shall have occasion to describe each of these three distilleries during the course of this paper, but it would perhaps be as well to run hurriedly through the several processes of whisky distillation. It may be divided roughly into brewing and distilling. Malt and barley, are, of course, the ingredients used. Barley as it comes from the market is distinguished by the appellation 'green.' This is either steeped and converted into malt, or kiln-dried and ground. It is then removed to the mash-tuns, where water is added, and the whole mixed by revolving machinery. After some hours' steeping, the water has soaked all the desired properties from the grain, and is known as wort. This is led away or pumped by a complicated series of pipes to the top of the manufactory, where it undergoes a cooling process. When of the desired temperature it is conducted to the fermenting vats--vast wooden vessels of imposing appearance ranged in rows. The brewing processes end with this fermentation.

"_The Distilling Processes._ When this is done, which generally takes five days, the fermented liquor is conducted to the 'wash' charger, and from thence pumped to the intermediate charger, where it is heated before undergoing the first process of distillation, which now takes place. The still is a vast copper vessel, shaped exactly like an inverted funnel, with the pipe leading to the roof. The 'wash' or liquor from the charger is conducted into this vessel. Beneath it are two furnaces, which soon raise the temperature of the vessel to boiling point. When evaporation commences the steam (which is the spirit, and is technically known as 'low wines') is conducted up the copper pipe into a refrigerator, known as the 'worm.' This worm is, in reality, a continuation of the pipe of the still twisted into regular coils in and about a vessel filled with the coldest water obtainable. By this means the steam is converted into liquor. This liquor pa.s.ses into the close safe, a gla.s.s vessel somewhat like an aquarium tank. The distiller stands by and watches the running liquor, and his practised eye and educated palate immediately detects any fault in the distillation. He is not allowed to open his tank, however, except by notice in the presence of the excise officer, one or more of whom are always present in every distillery. Through this tank it runs into 'low wines' receiver, a large tank placed below, and from these it again pa.s.ses to 'feints chargers' _en route_ to the 'low wines still,' where the second distillation takes place. I forgot to say that the refuse liquor left after the first distillation is much valued by farmers for its milk-producing qualities, and is bought up by them for cow food. The refuse liquor from the second distillation, however, is only water, and the refuse liquor from the third and final distillation is water also.

"The second distillation is like the first--the same process of 'worm'

cooling, conducting, and charging is carried on. The third still is known as the spirit still. The spirit is now considered perfect, and is led off to the large vats in the spirit stores, where it is reduced to desired strength, racked off into casks, and removed to bonded warehouses for maturity. Such are the processes carried on here--such are the processes carried on by all honest distillers during the last century; but modern science has discovered that many very common--tasteless, I grant, but easily flavoured--vegetables will yield ardent spirits, and there are not wanting those who will take advantage of the discovery.

"_Within a Distillery._ But the distillery itself, who can describe it--its story upon story of granaries--its kilns, floored with perforated tiles--its steeping vats and its low-roofed malting sheds--its roaring mills--its terrible and mysterious tanks--its inextricable machinery--its innumerable rafters and false roofs--its ladders perched up in inaccessible places--its bewildering pa.s.sages--and far away, above all, its immense chimneys towering up to the sky? But this is not all--the bonded warehouses have to be gone through. The excise officer has to be called, and the sealed lock has to be broken, and you enter into the vast cool place. Black as night is everything around you; the lamps which the attendants hold are utterly incapable of dissipating the darkness, and only cast a strong orange glare upon the faces of the men who hold them.

To show one the dimensions of the place a man is sent to the opposite end.

Away he goes, only traceable by the lamp he bears, and before he waves it to show that the opposite end of the vault is reached, it has become a scarcely discernible glimmer. As we become more used to the darkness we see straight pa.s.sages leading in every direction, and lined on every side by barrels piled almost to the ceiling.

"_The North Mall._ The first of the Cork distilleries I visited was the one at North Mall, formerly, and, in fact, still known as Wise's. It is in a western suburb of the town out among the meadows. The Lee winds its silvery course between tall alders close by it, and a branch stream is made to do much of the work of the immense manufactory. On approaching it it has a picturesque effect. It lies underneath a tall bank, over which the road to Sunday's Well leads. Looking down from this road the whole of its vast dimensions can be taken in at a glance. The extensive yard, where one would imagine enough coal was stored to supply the whole city, is being raised from the adjoining fields. I was looking over an old history of Cork, published by a certain Dr Smith, over a century ago, and I find that formerly on this spot a Franciscan monastery stood. Such discipline was preserved here that it was called the Mirror of Ireland, and their sacerdotal character was so great that they had the power of curing sore eyes. The only remains of this ancient edifice now visible is a carved stone built into the wall of the great bonded warehouses in the Sunday's Well Road. It was here that the noted water oozed out of the red-stone rock Whether it is ever now used in making the agreeable beverage manufactured from the old whisky stored below I did not ascertain. These old Franciscan fathers had, doubtless, a good cellar of their own; but what would they have said of the vast, well-filled vaults which now are found upon perhaps the identical spot? But, large as these are, they are not large enough for the requirements of the distillery, and other extensive premises have been secured in Leitrim Street, which are now used as bonded warehouses.

"The whisky produced at this distillery is, if possible, still better now than it was in Wise's time; the same distiller who worked the concern for him for twenty years is still there, and none but the very finest description of malt and barley (a large proportion of the former) is used.

Its production, as well as those of the other two distilleries of the company, gained a first-cla.s.s medal last year at Philadelphia, and the jurors described it as 'very fine, full flavour, and good spirit.' As a natural consequence, there is a demand for this whisky all over the world, and there are very few large towns in either hemisphere where it is not represented by an agent.

"_The 'Watercourse,'_ By-the-bye these lie on our way to the celebrated Watercourse Distillery, the second of those used by this great firm.

Entering through the broad portals, long ranges of old-fas.h.i.+oned buildings spread out on every side. Here is the mill, gaunt and square and stolid; those jealously guarded doors to the right are the bonded warehouses; the buildings across the yard are devoted to the coopers' and smiths' work, which in all three distilleries is done on the premises.

That tall black and white building far away on the opposite side is the grain store; this, nearer to you, with the irregular roofs, the complicated piping and open walled structures running away overhead, is the distillery proper. This distillery is about of equal size to that at North Mall. It has an older and more venerable appearance. It turns out as good and extensive work, and, like it, is not satisfied with the extensive storing facilities at its command, but must needs go abroad to an old, unused distillery, further in the suburbs, where it hides most of its rich and treasured productions. A picturesque old place is this; the ruins of the old works are still standing, and their architecture is such that it only requires a mantle of ivy to transform it into a remnant of feudal savagery.